You'll Always Be My Queen
by IrisLiesel
Summary: Scarlet reflects on the week worth of events that led to her ultimate downfall. More importantly, she thinks about what kind of affect her actions could have had on her beloved husband. Two-shot story.
1. Chapter 1

Scarlet sat on the dirt ground curled next to the campfire that they had set up. She wrapped the remains of her husband's jacket more closely to her body. She shivered at the memory of her and her husband being encased in solid ice earlier that day. If she didn't still have access to the button of her lava lamp dress, then they wouldn't have been so lucky. She folded her arms and legs closer to her body as she stared into the burning embers of the fire.

This week had been exhausting to say the least. She started the day off believing that her final wish would come true. She would be crowned queen, a desire that burned through her heart since she was five years old. All those mean children who told her that she would never be a princess, let alone queen, would see how wrong they were. All those days when she had nothing, not even a dollar to her name, she would have a kingdom to rule. That void that she longed to fill would have finally been sealed.

But things didn't go the way she expected it. Those three bug eyed, pillared creatures had come in and had been rewarded the crown themselves. Albeit, they tried to redeem themselves by abdicating their position, but she didn't think that she could trust them. She had been dreaming about this moment for years and she didn't believe that she could put her faith in those minions again. So she sent them into a torture chamber to rot for the rest of their worthless lives. Looking back, maybe it was a bit petty to do such a thing, but she couldn't help feeling what she felt. Forgiveness was not something she was comfortable with. She didn't believe in second chances. She did not want to risk the chance of being hurt twice. She knew the consequences of that forgiveness all too well.

Yet, the youngest of them all proved her wrong. Little Bob had offered his bear's tiny crown to her. Whether he had done it out of pity or genuine kindness, she was touched. Even after all that had happened, he looked at her with kind eyes and an open heart. She never expected somebody she treated so cruelly to offer her any kind of warmth.

Scarlet rolled the tiny trinket in her hands. There was no doubt that it was real gold. She could tell fake from a mile away. It came with the experience of being an expert criminal, or former expert criminal, she conceded.

As she played with the shiny object in her hands, she dwelled more on the memory of the little minion who gave it to her. Maybe those minions weren't that bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

As Scarlet began to feel her body temperature rise back to normal, she looked around for her husband. He said he would look for more firewood and something to eat. She had been to lost in her thoughts to realize that he had been gone for several minutes. She knew that she shouldn't worry too much. They had camped out in a quiet park close by to the remains of what used to be their castle. Herb was the one that suggested that they sleep here to get a better view of the stars, but she couldn't help but wonder if he was saving her from having to face the destruction of what was once their dream home.

Scarlet decided that maybe Herb had took the extra time to talk to the ducks at this hour. She chuckled, even with all the insanity that had come from today, she wouldn't put it past him to do such a thing. Herb was always an optimist. Whenever she stressed out about all the little things that could go wrong in life, he was always there to keep her grounded. His calm nature is what led her to fall so deeply in love with him. She admitted that she was definitely neurotic in times of stress (these past days could not be any more proof of that). But he could always distract her from that and make her laugh. His groovy personality was cheesy when they first met, but it soon became the part of him that made her feel safe and secure that things would get better.

For several minutes she had strolled around the park deep in her thoughts, but alas there was no sign of Herb. She slightly felt worried at this point, but remembered what he told her about breathing. She did her best to follow her husband's sensibility of remaining calm and collected.

In great fortune, right after she let out a large breath, a stream of light caught the corner of her eye. She hoped all too much that Herb would be there. As she walked closer and closer to the source she realized that this path was all too familiar. This was the road to their former castle. Why would Herb want to come back here? All of their belongings had been crushed due to the events of this morning. All that remained were rubble, bricks, and broken glass.

Before she could call out her husband's name, she heard another glass smash to the ground. She was startled, but nevertheless ready to fight whatever danger might lie around the corner. Maybe it was some locals trying to loot any remains of treasure they could find from the former Overkill residency. With her arms up on guard, she slowly crept around the corner to see who the cause of this entire racket was.

Her eyes popped wide open when she saw who the real source was. To her relief, she had found Herb safe from danger. But he was a Herb that she had never seen before.

Herb, still dressed in his ripped dress shirt and tattered clothing had flung another glass to the side. He was in what were the remains of his old laboratory: a room he had spent countless hours creating genius inventions. Herb was generally a happy man, but Scarlet always saw an extreme joy from him when he was in this room. He loved inventing gadgets and gizmos. He was not only a brilliant man of science but an artist in his creative work. She loved the fact that he found happiness in a profession that he excelled so well at. It was like watching Michelangelo free David from stone. Herb possessed the same brilliance in constructing the latest advancement in villain technology.

To see all his work destroyed must have been awful for him. His finished works of genius had been crushed to pieces. The prototype figures had been demolished as well in the rubble. And his blueprints and doodles for future projects had been burnt with the destruction of the lava lamp machine.

Herb was rifling through all the debris trying to lift pieces of dry wall as best he could. He didn't look like the Herb that she had seen before. In place of his gentle smile was a look of panic and stress as he rummaged through different piles of broken objects. What was he looking for? He smashed several glass beakers and test tubes as he continued his search.

Scarlet felt her heart beginning to break as she watched her husband from afar. Had she caused this? She knew that the experience of losing their home was tragic but she didn't realize how it would affect her husband. In fact, in all of this, she didn't realize how truly devoted he really was. Not many husbands would stick around while their wife obsessed over her crazy schematics. And yet Herb was always there to support her. He wasn't as fixated on power as much as she was, but he loved her and understood her more than anyone else could. She felt safe sharing her deepest secrets with him because she knew he wouldn't judge or belittle her. He looked at her so lovingly every day they had been together. He was with her every step of the way to accomplish her life's biggest goals.

And that's when she realized that she could not be more selfish. She focused so much on her own goals that she didn't see how her husband was being affected. He willingly did everything she asked for, and yet she always wanted more. She wanted this lifelong desire of being queen. And for what? To feel respected? To feel loved? The one person she only wanted to be loved from was the man that was slowly fading away from her. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she came to this horrible realization. She had happiness and yet she still wanted more; more from people who could never love her as much as Herb did.

She slowly walked towards Herb while he was still frantically shuffling through objects.

"Herb?" her voice sounded more like a squeak than a question.

As soon as the words left her lips, Herb froze. He knew all too well that sound of that voice. And he only heard that tone once when she was sharing her deepest secret to him. He dropped the brick he was holding on the ground and slowly turned to face her fearing the worst.

His fears were realized when he saw tears running down Scarlet's cheeks. Her eyes fought to stay open as she sniffled and sobbed.

Herb immediately ran to her side circling his arms around drawing her close. She buried her face into his shirt. She tried to pull away as she realized that she was further ruining his cotton shirt, but he just held her in place. He knew that Scarlet rarely cried in front of him. She had always tried to be so strong and not appear weak in front of anyone, not even him. But he knew whatever was troubling her had to be let out.

She stayed in his embraced for several minutes. He held her in silence letting her sob and cry out whatever emotions she was keeping in. He knew that these past few days were one of the worst she'd face. He didn't want her to be in any more pain than of what she suffered.

Once her sobs grew quieter and her breaths more steady, she whispered something to him.

"I'm- I'm sorry."

At this, Herb was surprised.

"What?"

Scarlet pulled her face from his chest, but still cast her eyes to the ground.

"I'm sorry that I got you into all of this. This life of crime. This stupid dream of wanting a stupid crown….for nothing"

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down Scarlet. It's going to be okay". Herb pressed his hand against the sides of her face so that she would look at him. Her eyes were still red and watery.

"Your dream is not stupid. And you don't have to be sorry for me. I will always be by your side, I can promise you that".

Scarlet took a few seconds to take in what he said. She was still a bit shook up, but having Herb so close allowed her to breathe again. She wiped at her tears and sniffled.

"But you shouldn't have to be."

Herb looked very confused now. "What?"

Scarlet swallowed. She didn't want to break down any longer. She just wanted to be strong. "You are a brilliant man, Herb. And you can create such amazing things. And you deserve better than having all your work destroyed for your wife's silly dreams." It didn't work, tears came flooding back and she was on the verge of losing it again. This time she just covered her face into her hands unable to look at him anymore.

Herb took in just what she said and he could have not been sadder for her. Never, in his history of knowing Scarlet had he felt regret for their relationship. Not when they were starting out as just partners in crime to now soulmates in love. He loved her more than anything and treasured all of their successes and failures. Not even this setback was something to make him love her any less.

"Hey, hey…" Herb tried to pull at her hands to rest his thumbs on her cheeks. She only cast her eyes down again to ground letting her tears drop. "Look at me…please".

Scarlet forced her gaze back to his soft brown eyes. He looked at her with so much love.

"I have never regretted you being by my side. All those inventions-I'll always be able to create new ones. But it will never be worth it if I can't have you with me.

Scarlet felt touched by his words, but she still had trouble believing him.

Herb wanted desperately to convince her that he was being sincere. But he was afraid that he was slowly losing her.

And just in good fortune, Herb spotted something in the corner of his eye. It was the object that he had come to look for. Laying on the right side of her dress was a red box. He slowly bent down on one knee to grasp it. As he looked back up to Scarlet, he grasped her left hand to caress her soft skin.

Scarlet was still coming out from her second breakdown of the night, but she slowly opened her eyes to see Herb kneeling in front of her. He placed a slim velvet box into both of her hands. He nodded at her to open it. In it, her eyes widened at the sight of a beautiful golden necklace. Adorned were several charms each encrusted with a sparkling ruby inside. She caressed each charm noting how each one had a special meaning to her. The teddy bear that she played with as a child. A can of soup significant of the first painting they stole together and the first time that they had ever met. A red dress, the first invention that he had made especially for her. And in the middle was a royal crown fit for a queen.

Her mind was so wrapped up in each of the memories that Herb and her shared together that she didn't notice when Herb stood up to unclasp the necklace from its case. He stood directly behind her to brush her soft locks of hair away and clasp the necklace to her neck. He directed her to the remains of the shattered glass on her left so that she could she just how beautiful she looked even in a tattered dress and disheveled hair.

He looked at her in the mirror to pull her body against his.

"I wanted to give this to you for our upcoming anniversary. I had worked on it for months trying to craft all the gems into shape. It's one of the only things that didn't want you lose out of all this."

Scarlet let out the breath that she had been holding all this time. She finally let go of those fears of losing her husband because of her failures. In truth, it wasn't the jewelry that impressed her, but the memories associated with it. She remembered how whether they led a life of crime or a life of failed pursuits, what she cherished the most was being with Herb.

"Herb" his name was a prayer from her lips. She turned to face him while wrapping her arms against his neck. She pulled him close so that their foreheads touched. She looked deeply into his dark brown eyes. His beautiful gesture had rendered her speechless so she did her best to convey how grateful she felt through her loving gaze. Herb nodded in acknowledgment at what she so wanted to say. Releasing a final breath her eyes slid shut and she pressed her lips against his. It had been a while since they kissed so deeply. She had been so consumed by making her dreams come true that she forgot what real treasure she had in front of her. Herb had missed having that intimacy as well. When she finally took that last step, he felt his heart stop before it began to beat again rapidly. This kiss was a lot different than the ones they had. It was a desperate gesture to say sorry and forgive and forget. But most importantly, it was a new beginning for what could lie ahead.

"You will always be my queen, Scarlet Overkill".


End file.
